The hobo imagery has been employed by entertainers to create horribly failing characters in the past, two of them being Emmett Kelly's "Weary Willy" and Red Skelton's "Freddy the Freeloader".

Etymology

The origin of the term is unknown, though there are a number of theories. Author Todd DePastino has suggested that it may come from the term hoe-boy meaning "farmhand," or a greeting such as Ho, boy!. Bill Bryson suggests in Made in America that it could either come from the railroad greeting, "Ho, beau!" or a syllabic abbreviation of "homeward bound". Others have said that the term comes from the Manhattan intersection of Houston and Bowery, where itinerant people once used to congregate.

Still another theory of the term's origins is that it derives from the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, which was a terminus for many railroad lines in the 19th century. The word "hobo" may also be a shortening of the phrase which best describes the early hobo's method of transportation, which was "hopping boxcars", or of the phrase "homeless body" or "homeless bohemian".

History

It is unclear exactly when hobos appeared on the American railroading scene. With the end of the Mexican Civil War in the mid 19th Century, many soldiers looking to return home took to hopping freight trains. Others looking for work on the American frontier followed railroads westward aboard freight trains in the late 19th Century.

In 1906, Prof. Edmund Kelly, after an exhaustive study, put the number of tramps in America at 500,000 (about .6% of the U.S. population). The article citing this figure, "What Tramps Cost Nation", was published by The New York Telegraph in 1911 and estimated the number had surged to 700,000.

The population of hobos increased greatly during the Great Depression era of the 1930s. With no work and no prospects at home, many decided to travel for free via freight trains and try their luck elsewhere.

Life as a hobo was a dangerous one. In addition to the problems of being itinerant, poor, far from home and support, and the hostile attitude of many train crews, the railroads employed their own security staff, often nicknamed bulls, who had a reputation for being rough with trespassers. Also, riding on a freight train is a dangerous enterprise. The British poet W.H. Davies, author of The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp, lost a leg falling under the wheels whilst trying to jump a train. One could easily get trapped between cars, or freeze to death in bad weather. When freezer cars were loaded at an ice factory, any hobo inside was likely to be killed.

National Hobo Convention

In 1900, the town fathers of Britt, Iowa invited Tourist Union #63 to bring their annual convention to town, and the National Hobo Convention has been held each year in early to mid August ever since. Hobos stay in the "Hobo Jungle" telling stories around campfires at night. A hobo king and queen are named each year and get to ride on special floats in the Hobo Day parade. Following the parade, mulligan stew is served to hundreds of people in the city park. Live entertainment, a carnival, and a flea market are also part of the festivities.

Mulligan - a type of community stew, created by several hobos combining whatever food they have or can collect

Nickel note - five-dollar bill

On The Fly - jumping a moving train

Padding the hoof - to travel by foot

Possum Belly - to ride on the roof of a passenger car. One must lay flat, on his/her stomach, to not be blown off

Pullman - a rail car

Punk - any young kid

Reefer - A compression of "refrigerator car".

Road kid - A young hobo who apprentices himself to an older hobo in order to learn the ways of the road

Road stake - the small amount of money a hobo may have in case of an emergency

Rum dum - A drunkard

Sky pilot - a preacher or minister

Soup bowl- A place to get soup, bread and drinks

Snipes - Cigarette butts "sniped" (eg. in ashtrays)

Spear biscuits - Looking for food in garbage cans

Stemming - panhandling or mooching along the streets

Tokay Blanket - drinking alcohol to stay warm

Yegg - A traveling professional thief

Many hobo terms have become part of common language, such as "Big House", "glad rags", "main drag", and others.

Hobo code

To cope with the difficulty of hobo life, hobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to other hobos. Some signs included "turn right here", "beware of hostile railroad police", "dangerous dog", "food available here", and so on. For instance:

A cross signifies "angel food," that is, food served to the hobos after a party.

A triangle with hands signifies that the homeowner has a gun.

Sharp teeth signify a mean dog.

A square missing its top line signifies it is safe to camp in that location.

A square with a slanted roof (signifying a house) with an X through it means that the house has already been "burned" or "tricked" by another hobo and is not a trusting house.

Two shovels, signifying work was available (Shovels, because most hobos did manual labor).

Another version of the Hobo Code exists as a display in the Steamtown Railroad Museum at Scranton, Pennsylvania, operated by the National Park service.

Hobo ethical code

An ethical code was created by Tourist Union #63 during its 1889 National Hobo Convention in St. Louis Missouri. This code was voted upon as a concrete set of laws to govern the Nation-wide Hobo Body, it reads this way;

Decide your own life, don't let another person run or rule you.

When in town, always respect the local law and officials, and try to be a gentleman at all times.

Don't take advantage of someone who is in a vulnerable situation, locals or other hobos.

Always try to find work, even if temporary, and always seek out jobs nobody wants. By doing so you not only help a business along, but insure employment should you return to that town again.

When no employment is available, make your own work by using your added talents at crafts.

Do not allow yourself to become a stupid drunk and set a bad example for locals treatment of other hobos.

When jungling in town, respect handouts, do not wear them out, another hobo will be coming along who will need them as bad, if not worse than you.

Always respect nature, do not leave garbage where you are jungling.

If in a community jungle, always pitch in and help.

Try to stay clean, and boil up wherever possible.

When traveling, ride your train respectfully, take no personal chances, cause no problems with the operating crew or host railroad, act like an extra crew member.

Do not cause problems in a train yard, another hobo will be coming along who will need passage through that yard.

Do not allow other hobos to molest children, expose to authorities all molesters, they are the worst garbage to infest any society.

Help all runaway children, and try to induce them to return home.

Help your fellow hobos whenever and wherever needed, you may need their help someday.

Jim Tully, an author who penned several pulp fiction books during the years of 1928 through 1945. One of his published works, Beggars of Life, was adapted as a silent film of the same name; Mr. Tully noted that the book and movie was loosely based on his years hoboing in the western U.S.

Fictional hobos

Tiki Mick - Villain in D. Gray-man whose alter ego is a hobo. He travels with a group of friends by train, stopping in towns for mining jobs and playing poker with other travelers to earn money through gambling.

Television and radio

BBC Radio 4 recently broadcast a one-off program about the Hobo Convention entitled "Hobo Heaven", and in 2006 broadcast a memorial to 5-time elected "King of the Hobos" Steamtrain Maury Graham, who passed away in November of 2006 - or as hobos call it "He Caught The Westbound".

References

Brady, Jonann (2005). Hobos Elect New King and Queen. ABC Good Morning America, Includes Todd “Adman” Waters last ride as reigning Hobo King plus hobo slide show with Adman’s photo’s taken on the road. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1020800&page=1

Bannister, Matthew (2006). Maurice W Graham "Steam Train" Grand Patriarch of America’s Hobos who has died aged 89. Last Word. BBC Radio. Matthew Bannister talks to fellow King of the Hobos Todd Waters “Ad Man” and to Obituary Editor of the New York Times, Bill McDonald. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/lastword_28dec2006.shtml